No. 5 Seed Women’s Water Polo Falls to No. 4 Harvard in CWPA First Round, 11-9

Friday, April 26

Providence, RI

4:00 PM

Brown University

Harvard University

No. 5 Seed Women’s Water Polo Falls to No. 4 Harvard in CWPA First Round, 11-9

4/26/2019 5:54:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

Tournament Central

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Freshman Dagmara Czajka scored three goals, and sophomore Carissa Perez tallied five assists, but No. 5 seed Brown University women's water polo fell to No. 4 seed Harvard University, 11-9, in the first round of the 2019 Collegiate Water Polo Association Championship on Friday afternoon at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center.

The host Bears (19-13) held a 5-3 halftime lead on the No. 16 nationally ranked Crimson (21-6) and pulled within 10-9 with 1:38 remaining in the fourth quarter before the visitors held on for the win.

In consolation play, Brown will face No. 7 seed St. Francis (Pa.) (9-25) on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and No. 6 seed George Washington (6-13) on Sunday at 9:00 a.m. Harvard will meet top-seeded and No. 6 nationally ranked Michigan (21-8) in the semifinals on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

"This was a well-played game by both teams in a championship environment," Brown head coach Felix Mercado said. "We had a good first half and made a strong comeback in the fourth quarter but give credit to Harvard for making plays, especially in the third quarter. We still have two more opportunities to play in front of our fans in our home pool this weekend."

Czajka (Lafayette, Calif.) and Perez (Pico Rivera, Calif.) each totaled six points with Czajka posting three goals and three assists alongside two steals and Perez registering one goal and five assists to go with two steals.

Senior Maigrie McDougal (Sacramento, Calif.) recorded two goals and three steals while senior Carmen Rosas (Schaumburg, Ill.) and sophomore Kaitlyn Cook (Los Gatos, Calif.) each tallied a goal and a steal. Senior McKenna Miller (Danville, Calif.) added a goal, and junior Lexi Atwell (La Jolla, Calif.) chipped in an assist.

In the cage, junior goalkeeper Lauren Burns (Long Grove, Ill.) made nine saves, including three stops in the fourth quarter, to go with a steal.

The Bears opened the game with a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter behind goals from McDougal, Rosas, and Cook. McDougal opened the game's scoring with a straight-on goal off a feed from Perez. After Harvard knotted the score at 1-1, Rosas scored on the inside and Cook converted on a power play to push the Bears ahead 3-1.

Following a pair of Harvard tallies to start the second quarter, the Bears responded with consecutive goals inside of the half's final 1:14 to take a 5-3 lead at the break. Miller netted a goal from beyond five meters before Perez scored on a lob shot with 26 seconds left in the stanza.

After the Crimson netted the third quarter's first two goals to tie the game at 5-5, Czajka responded with a 6-on-5 goal to give Brown a 6-5 lead with 4:25 to go in the stanza. Harvard scored the quarter's last three goals to go ahead, 8-6, heading to the final frame and netted the fourth's first goal to take a 9-6 edge with 6:18 remaining.

Czajka answered with a goal from the right wing off a feed from Perez, cutting the deficit to 9-7 with 4:30 to play. Following a Harvard goal, Czajka scored off another assist from Perez to trim the margin to 10-8 with 2:03 left. McDougal followed with a goal off another Perez pass, slicing the deficit to 10-9 with 1:38 to go, but Harvard scored the game's final goal with 1:00 remaining.

Brown nearly reversed its result against Harvard during the regular season. The Crimson topped the Bears, 7-6, in Cambridge, Mass., on Mar. 1.

Harvard 11, Brown 9
Brown....................... 3…2…1…3…9
Harvard.................... 1…2…5…3…11
Brown Goals: Czajka 3, McDougal 2, Cook, Miller, Perez, Rosas.
Brown Saves: Burns 9.